Thursday, July 19, 2012

Elephants Can Run Fast Too.

I finally made it to the track this week after putting it off for two days. I gave myself an extra day on Tuesday to recover from Sunday's 18-miler and intended on going yesterday, but I woke up feeling nauseous and decided to push it back one more day. It still works with my plan of alternating days of running and rest as I can do my tempo run on Saturday since my long run is getting done on Monday. See, it all works out!

It is turning out to be a beautiful day here in Maine. It was in the high 50s when I woke up and I nearly considered wearing arm sleeves. There is still a lot of humidity in the air, but I don't think it is as bad as the last few days have been. I also wore my Mizuno Wave Precisions to see how they faired with running fast (or relatively fast). Today's workout consisted of a 1 mile warmup, 2 x 1200m @ 5:27, 4 x 800m @ 3:34 w/ 2:00 RI (rest interval), and a 1 mile cool down.

I was running a bit late, so I shortened the warmup and cool down to half a mile each. I probably could have used a little more before the fast intervals as my legs were feeling very heavy today. I'm not sure if it was just a result of having a few days off or running fast in different shoes with a higher heel than I'm used to, but I felt like I was lumbering down the track. I felt soooo slow.

It was also harder to breathe than normal, but I chalk that up to the humid air. I also forgot what my RI was supposed to be, I was thinking it was 1:30 and was being soft and took 1:45, but I was actually supposed to take 2:00 breaks so I did better than I thought!

I'm really surprised that I hit my paces (and was faster on all but two), considering I felt like I was moving in super slow motion. It was a really weird sensation. I have to say I was missing my PureConnects, but I wanted to give the Precisions a chance more out of curiosity than anything.

It is possible to love more than one.

I should probably give them at least one more try before coming to a final conclusion, but I think they are going to suit me well as a good shoe for my tempo and/or long runs. The Connects are so much like a racing flat that it is easier to sprint in them...not that I was really sprinting today. Anyway, one more run done and one step closer to the marathon.